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Fireworks Magazine Online 71 - Interview with Dead Daisies

Dead Daisies

I recently made a trip to London to meet up with two of my favorite people in the whole world – former Motley Crue, The Scream, Union vocalist John Corabi and bass player extraordinaire Marco Mendoza. This was never going to stay a serious conversation for very long, so please make sure you read it with tongue very firmly in cheek. We met to talk about the new Dead Daisies album, which both are an integral part of, but first of all, I wanted to know how they both got involved in this basically Australian band?

JC: I think it's a musician exchange program, they sent somebody to Mexico...

MM: Yeah, it's been an evolving process if you will. Bottom line, the founders Dave Lowy and Jon Stevens had a situation going that had to do with writing some songs, got in to the studio, demoed some stuff, they started diggin' each other and the vibe. I was in Australia with Thin Lizzy on the Motley Crue/Kiss tour and David Lowy was there with Diva Demolition, so the connection was there, that's how I met David Lowy. They had a cool vibe, cool songs and then I met David Edwards (his manager who is now our manager) back stage and we got along and that's what happens when you go out on long tours, you spend a lot of time people. Almost at the tour, David approaches me and says "You know Lowy has got a project that he's thinking about doing and he wants to invite you to participate?" And I said "Yeah man, this is my info." I went home, two weeks went by, he got in touch and he says "Yeah we're moving forward." I say "Great man, send me the music so I know what I'm getting myself in to" and I dug the vibe, I dug the direction, we had a chance to really talk in depth about what their intentions were. Everything about it was good, everything was positive, the fact that they mentioned we had a chance to open up for Aerosmith, it kinda helped a lot. I went shit! If I have a man crush... besides Mr. Corabi, Tyler is one of those men.

JC: This is why I have this hair do, cause this is as close as he's gonna get.

MM: I think that cat is just amazing. Anyways though, so I signed up. In addition to that, they were talking to Richard Fortus and Dizzy (Reed) and everybody else and Richard and I had a history from Thin Lizzy and we always talked about doing something, so this coming together it's almost like the universe (not to get too deep and the stars aligned) and boom, there we were, playing music, that we all dug and you know that's what it was. Before you know it, we did the tour and at the end, everybody is like "Wow, this is too good, we can't leave it". So there were talks about taking it to the next level and so there was a few problems with the drummer and again with Mr. Stevens, he had some personal issues that he couldn't cross and we had plans, we had booked a few things including Cuba and this tour and studio and lalala. So everything was in the works, Jon couldn't cross his situation, so we started talking and John was one of the first picks, he came up, him and I had been talking, we'd been doing a lot of the same gigs in Europe and even on Facebook and touching base and I've always loved John, his vibe as human being. He's a great front man, singer and all that. Beyond that, when you take it on the road and start spending time with people, you wanna have fun, you wanna hang out with people who are doing it for the right reason, which is the music. I'm not blowing smoke up his ass, but that's why he's doing this and I believe I'm doing it for the same reason. So he came to Cuba and hit it out of the ballpark and it was like, we all just got along so well and here we are. It's on of those things and there's a reason why things happen, I'm a firm believer in that.

S: Oh me too.

JC: Um, what was the question again?

MM: Well that was my connection to the Dead Daisies. So here we are, a year and a half later, or a little bit over.

JC: Not even that – just over 4 months for me. Marco called me in January, February I went out to see everybody in LA. We had dinner, end of February we were in Cuba. Mid March we were in Australia.

MM: In the studio.

JC: We did the record in March 10th or 12th, we were done April 12th. Then right after that, I was only home 2 days and then we (my solo band) went on the cruise. So it's just been like bam, bam, bam, bam, bam! It's been cool though.

MM: It's been a blast!

JC: Yeah!

MM: Its just been a lot of fun really, creatively speaking.

JC: I did another interview earlier today and the guy was like "How was it to write with all these guys?" and you know, it's really funny, everybody's done this for so long, the talent is there, so you can literally come in and go "I've got this riff" and somebody is gonna get it. Even if it's one note, they're gonna be like "Oh!" You know, it was very easy, like Marco had ideas, Dizzy had ideas, David Lowy had ideas, Richard had some, I had some and we just threw 'em in there and everybody was like "Oh yeah!" Or even if it was just a couple guys, the song, it just came.

MM: It just clicked.

JC: And I mean, you have the record, there's 13 songs on that, we still have 4 songs left over. But we did like 16 or 17 songs, wrote, recorded, mixed and mastered and did the artwork in just 30 days.

MM: It's a massive amount of work.

JC: It just doesn't normally happen like that, but you know even with having Marco and Dizzy, I would sing something and Dizzy would say "Well what if you phrased it like this?" I would sing a sentence and I would go "Man, I'm not crazy about the melody, I don't know if my melody is carrying the song." And Marco's like "Wait, wait, wait!" and he'd come in and put a harmony on it and it takes off. So there was so many different ideas and talent, but at the end of the day, for the fact that we had time constraints, I don't think I've laughed harder than we did. It was hilarious every day. I mean we were stressed about getting the record done in time, but we had fun man, it was just awesome.

MM: It is.

JC: It really is awesome.

S: Do you feel that perhaps...I hate to say this but, but well it goes for me too....

MM: Don't hate it, say it.

S: Well, at your age, do you think you've gone past the point where you have anything to prove? Where you can relax in to it and just get on with it?

JC: I don't worry about it anymore, we were talking about this...

MM: Yeah, there's nothing to prove.

JC: Right now, all you can control, is the things you can control. You do a record, you do the best you can, you sing the best you can, you play the best you can, put it on... commit it to, whatever (can't say tape anymore) commit it to tape and then keep your fingers crossed and maybe there's a song on there that the public embraces and the thing just goes through the roof. If it doesn't, it doesn't, you know, but we've all kind of gotten to the point where we're all being very creative, we're all having fun, like we actually enjoy hanging out with each other, which is a huge thing for me, I don't want to be in a band where I don't enjoy it.

S: I bet you never got that in Motley Crue did you!

JC: I'm not saying a word!

MM: No you know, to back him up. It's very conducive when you're having fun to be creative, I believe in that. I've been in projects where it's too brainy and it's too intense and the doors start shutting down and again. I believe in a spiritual thing, when you're laughing and you're having fun, the doors are open, for any possibility and our job is to grab it, it's just there boom, boom, boom and then management, a lot of gratitude to management, because they recruited the best marketing team they could possibly get, all these pistons are going, unlike any other projects that I've been involved with. Right now there's just so much momentum and rhythm and all we have to do is do the creative side, put on the best shows we can and have a good time doing it.

JC: But I still liken this thing to - I just recently read the Rod Stewart autobiography and he talks about how he was doing his solo thing, but in The Faces and he goes "The coolest thing about Faces was that they didn't look at it as a band, they looked at it like every gig that we did" so he said, every gig they would meet at a pub across the street and they would go have a couple cocktails and just sit and tell some new joke that they heard, or talk about soccer or talk about whatever and then they would walk across the street and they would do these shows that were just kind of spontaneous and chaotic and just fun and whatever. So he goes "it was never really a band, it was just a bunch of mates, hanging out and jamming together". And that's kind of how I look at this thing, I know somebody even said to me like "How are you gonna do both? Like your thing and this?" Rod Stewart did it for years with The Faces and his solo career, I'm looking at this, hopefully, the same way. So it's pretty cool, I'm very proud of this record, I think this could be one of the best records I've ever done in my life and in the amount of time that we did it, I'm hugely proud of the fact that we did it in 30 days. It was pretty intense.

S: Now I have to say, I was a huge fan of Cold Chisel, I can hear elements of that in the record, had either of you heard of the band before?

JC: Uh-uh.

S: Never?

MM: I'd heard a little bit, I'd been going to Australia a little bit, but not in depth to be honest and I mean, I know the family, I know Jimmy (Barnes) and I know the boys. We, actually had his son record drums. So yeah, when you spend time in Australia, I'm trying to think of the station on TV, but they do all the retro stuff so you really get to hear it, but that's about it.

S: That was really good Classic Rock and I think that's what you've really captured in this record.

MM: Yes, thank you, that's what we're shooting for. Without thinking, because we came from that era you know? And the influences come out.

JC: It's funny, we were all doing it, so each one of us had a room and my computer would bing and I would go over and look at the screen and it'd be Richard and he's like "Dude, check out this link." And I'd click on it and it'd be Grand Funk live 1972 at Madison Square Garden.

MM: Nice.

JC: And I'd find, you know, Deep Purple in Sweden in like 1969 and send him that. Now just the other day, he was like "Dude, I went online and I downloaded Grand Funk's entire catalogue. Like 18 records, bootlegs, all this other stuff". So this is what we all love and grew up listening to. So we just said, we're just gonna jam. Whatever comes out, that's it - you know what I mean? And that's what we did.

MM: For me - and I've been involved in a few things, like John and all of us, this is reminiscent of, in my opinion, what a real band should be. The circumstances in which we all came together, it's like have fun, let's be creative, let's let all the other stuff not get involved and that's what you get. I can't wait to do the next one to be honest, I can't wait to have the time, hopefully we'll have the luxury of having a little more time too to follow it up, because I know in my heart, in my gut, it's gonna go to the next level, I just know it, I can feel it.

S: The other thing of course, you've got a cover version on there and, being Scottish; Since I was ten years old, I've been obsessed with the Sensation Alex Harvey Band. Now, what I have to ask is, 'Midnight Moses' is not an obvious choice, it's a very unusual choice for a cover, why Sensational Alex Harvey Band and why that track?

JC: For me and it's weird because Chris Glen was just on our show the other day and Zal had been writing to me and Richard. So years ago, when I lived in Philadelphia there was a band called The Dead End Kids, they were genius. They were a train wreck of drugs and all, you know. Had they been able to keep their shit straight, they would have truly been one of the biggest bands in the world.

MM: Massive.

JC: They were unbelievable; they were Motley Crue way before Motley Crue... and Guns N' Roses as well, I might add. That whole "Are they gonna make it through the set? Ahh yeah, okay." I used to go see them when I was 18 years old and they would come on stage and they would start with this song, 'Midnight Moses' and for years I thought it was an original and I'm like "Wow, I love that song." But they would do these kicks and spin the guitars like Cinderella, they were the first ones that did it and I'm like "Oh my God, those guys are amazing." Years later, somebody turned me on to this boxed set it was like Framed, Alex Harvey and another record and the two of them like together and I put this record on and I'm listening to all this stuff and I'm like wow, it's cool, it's eclectic and then all of a sudden I hear...

MM: The riff.

JC: And I'm like "Oh! It was a cover song they were doing!" but there's something about that fucking riff, for me personally, that just drives me ape shit. Like I drive my car, I just wanna rip the dashboard out, it just does something to me. So when I met the Dead Daisies, at dinner we were talking about covers, we were thinking about doing this and we do this song 'Evil', it's an old Blues song, which is cool. I go, "I've always wanted to this song by a band called the Sensational Alex Harvey Band, it's called 'Midnight Moses'" and I think Richard knew what it was, but David...

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MM: And I did

JC: So I go "Here, check it out" and I found the video and then the next thing I know, we were doing it live in Cuba and immediately we did it and the audience came right back and everybody is like "Okay, this could be really cool." So we actually recorded it while we were in Cuba. And we started 'Evil' and it was just like, the riff to that song is just fucking brilliant.

MM: It's a piledriver, once we wrote it, it was like...

JC: Yeah and there's just no release, it does not let up.

S: And how did it go down in Australia where there are so many Scottish people?

JC: We haven't played it in Australia yet!

S: Oh ok.

JC: We recorded it, we brought it over, it was already done, so we just sent that one and had it mixed, so nobody's heard it in Australia yet, but I wanna play it in Scotland.

MM: I know the reaction that it's been getting on social media is like "Yeahhh!"

S: Oh, I've been sharing the bum out of it.

MM: It's the essence of that era of music. That's what that era was all about, careless, piledriving, in your face attitude.

JC: Oh and the other thing is too, in this little autobiography album; So I've always loved that song and there's all their other ones like 'Delilah'...

S: 'Faith Healer'?

JC: 'Faith Healer', 'Hole In Her Stocking', all of these too. So I'm reading this book on Bon Scott and it goes Bon Scott's biggest influence was Alex Harvey, so I went back and I listened to 'Midnight Moses' and I go you know, actually if you listen to it, it sounds like Bon Scott singing. So it's pretty cool. I'm just like "Fuck it, we gotta do it" and I know there's been other bands that have recorded that song, but who gives a shit, we're fucking doing it. It's just great; it has to be in our set and on the record.

S: Right from now on every album you release has to have a Sensational Alex Harvey Band song on it.

S: Def Leppard took them on tour with them a few years ago, it was Def Leppard, Cheap Trick and Sensational Alex Harvey Band.

MM: Who's singing for them though?

S: Max Maxwell, who was a huge fan back in the day and he's again very theatrical, you know wears really way out clothes. He's a real character. So what did Zal say about it?

JC: Well Zal posted our video on his Facebook page and he wrote "Cheeky fuckers, but I like it." He's been writing to Richard and I wrote to him and I said "Hey Zal, thanks for posting the video, big fan" and I said "I know Chris Glen, I've met Chris several times and I would love to, if at some point we ever do get to Scotland, take you out for a drink or something, or just sit and chew the fat" and he wrote back "Oh yeah, that would be lovely." You know, but apparently Richard's been talking to him on a somewhat regular basis. I remember Chris saying he's like freakishly intelligent.

S: He wrote a book "Hail Vibrania", really deep and he did like cartoons for the whole thing, he is a really deep guy.

JC: Enough about that, let's talk about me!

S: Right, so, you're out on tour at the moment with KISS. How's that going?

MM: How is it? It's amazing.

JC: We're all friends.

MM: We're all friends and I've had the luck to have been there before and they're really cool, they really take care of us. They make sure we get what we need.

JC: Yeah, I think it was you, or someone, we were talking about Van Halen. How they would bring these bands out and not give them any lights, and KISS is the complete opposite, I mean they're being stupidly supportive. We've full PA, not all the lights, but they're giving us quite a bit of lighting, full PA, our rooms are always right next to theirs and Gene came in the other day and did the hilarious dance.

MM: Yeah, the James Brown thing.

JC: Yeah, he comes in and he's like "Hey! I got the Beverly Hills Blues." And he's dancing around the room and he goes "I got the Beverly Hills Blues." He goes "Because my limo was late." And then he walked out the room.

MM: We're having a blast, absolutely.

JC: We're having a great time and it's been cool.

MM: You couldn't be in a better place to be honest, to play in front of a KISS audience. I think we're getting some traction and people are going "Wow, that's cool, it's a cool project".

S: I know a young band called The Treatment...

MM: Yes I know them.

S: Yeah cause they toured with KISS and in America last year and they had an absolutely amazing time.

MM: Yeah, they took care of them. I think what it is at the heart of that camp, you have Paul and Gene, I think both of them, but Paul, he's got a good heart, he remembers every time I have a chance to talk with him, he remembers the hard work. Like the other night, I came off and I just mentioned "Jeez, it would be nice if they knew the songs, like the old days, the radio would play it and give you a heads up." But still we're getting people singing the lyrics to some of the songs so we are getting some traction there. He says "Marco, that's what we did man, we used to go out there and put the makeup on and the whole thing and people would look at us like we were crazy, but we believed in what we were doing." He said "I never wanna forget that, so don't you forget it. You go out there and do the best" and I go "You're right, dude".

JC: Even on a personal level, Richard was saying he was going through some personal things the last time you guys, toured with them (I don't want to talk about Richard's personal stuff) but he was going through some personal things and he had talked to Paul about it in passing and he said it was crazy, they got off tour with him and then Paul sent him a text message like a week or two later and was like "Hey how did everything turn out? Everything good?" And Richard was like, you know, that was pretty fucking cool, that's like amazing that he's concerned about him.

S: Because he doesn't have to do that?

MM: Right.

S: You don't expect it, but it's lovely when it happens.

JC: Yeah, it was very lovely and sweet of him to say "hey how did everything turn out for you".

MM: At the end of the day, they're still human beings and we all are and they know what it is to try and break a new project and the work and the sweat and the blood and the tears and the screaming and the yelling and the pressure that we're under, but we're doing it and so we do get the applause from them and the support, so it means a lot and for me, I don't know about anybody else, but every time I go out there, when I have time, this tour's been rough 'cause we've been working, but I'll go to the sound board every so often and watch. It's a spectacle. It's a frickin theatrical, frickin bombastic, in your face; it's insane what goes on and they've been doing that for years. So they deserve all the success in the world.

JC: That's what I said. One of the first years I saw KISS, I was 16 I think, it was the first live record? And the fact that I'm in my 50's and sharing a stage with them, cause this writer earlier said something about you know, he was asking me "How does it feel as a musician, to see a band that aren't very good musicians that rely more on the show" and I said "How can you say that? Honestly, I'm not trying to start an argument with you, but I totally disagree. I've had to learn a lot of those KISS songs and some of Gene's bass lines are pretty fucking cool".

MM: Absolutely.

JC: I mean the guitar parts, the bass parts, you know it's not like Yes or Rush, but they're cool, they fit the songs and how many records have they done? 25, 26 records? And they're still churning out songs, how can you say they're not good musicians?

S: But whether they're good musicians or not, whether they have a bad show or not, you show me somebody else who can go out and do a show like that and have people from all over the world, travelling all over the world to see them.

JC: Well exactly and I was correcting him, that wasn't my opinion and I'm like "No dude, I cannot say that KISS are not good musicians, anybody that can still be making music 25 records in and 40 years later and still be making music, I beg to differ".

MM: It's human nature, unfortunately, when you see something that massive. Because they have huge success, in my eyes, they've set the standard for what a Rock band is, what a Rock show should be.

JC: Everything, merch!

MM: But human nature, always focusing on the negative, always go for the Achilles heel. Why? Why not give them the respect that they deserve? And that's how I feel about a lot of things.

JC: They always go for the Achilles heel because you can't grab their penis.

MM: There you go.

JC: It's not appropriate.

MM: That makes sense! But so much music you know and the band, their legacy, their catalogue, their history.

S: Well I'm actually going to two, 40th anniversary tours this year.

JC: One is Priest?

S: No, I've already seen that one, at Sweden Rock.

JC: That was another one that freaked me out, I didn't realize Priest was around that long as well and Rob Halford kills it.

S: They were amazing last weekend.

MM: They are every night man.

S: But the next one, we're going to Toronto next week to see two Rush shows, for the 40th anniversary and then at the beginning of August, the Tubes.

MM: Wow.

JC: Oh shit, 40th? That's insane, all those bands came out at the same time, Judas Priest, KISS, Rush and The Tubes. That was the thing about the 70's that I love, if you look at that span of music, they're all so drastically different. I would turn on an FM radio station and I could hear all 4 of them. That's the thing that I miss about music now, everything's like "Oh no, you wanna hear Nickelback? Ok that's on this radio station, but if you wanna hear Priest, that's on this radio station".

S: Yeah it's all pigeonholed.

JC: That's what we're trying to change! I love the fact that when you bought a record, you bought the record for the record - the experience of the entire record.

MM: The ride, the full ride.

JC: And the artwork, like everything, everything!

MM: The Tubes man, with Prairie Prince.

S: He's my favorite drummer of all time.

MM: I've worked with Prairie and Neal Schon. It was insane. We did a whole tour in the US yeah, but their music, I got to see them not too long ago, it's insane music, I mean the prog stuff is there, but the quirkiness, the whole thing.

S: And they still do the costume changes and Fee still kills it.

MM: It was insane and it was a little club in LA, like and 800/1000 seater, I mean that's big enough, but it's like wow. Prairie called me he said "We're playing in town." And they were all so different, it was a trip. I think I was 2 when they came out... yeah right! But anyway yeah, The Tubes man.

JC: And if you believe that one, I got a bridge for you in New Jersey.

MM: And London.

S: Right, one more thing, you played Download and they only gave you 25 minutes at 11 o'clock in the morning?

JC: That's right. You know what, honestly, we were grateful they're gave us 25 minutes. We could destroy you in 10, but the fact that they're gave us 15 extra minutes is awesome.

MM: Management was talking to us, "Guys, there's a slot at 7am." and we'd get 15 minutes, so it's an upgrade. On Monday! After the festivals over!

JC: We're in premium economy. Look I got legroom and peanuts.

MM: And the exposure again, just to be here is gonna be good.

S: What are the chances of you coming back and doing a UK tour? You can't just do Download?

MM: Funny you should ask. We were talking to management and it's in the works, it's gonna be confirmed. We're talking about 5 maybe 6 headliner shows in the UK right after we do some shows in Europe with Whitesnake... you should come!

In my dreams! Well, shortly after the interview, the following dates were confirmed:

4th December Planet Rockstock, Wales5th December Slade Rooms, Wolverhampton6th December Rescue Rooms, Nottingham8th December Cathouse, Glasgow9th December Academy 2, Newcastle10th December Academy 3, Manchester11th December The Garage, London

The album 'Revolucion' is now available from all good stockists and there is also a documentary and book about the band's historic trip to Cuba. Check www.thedeaddaisies.com for all the latest news and info.

SeaDog57 : Berny looking for the link and password to Issue 87 free music

Berny : @yvesrock: Apologies for the troubles. I've just sent you an email.

yvesrock : Hi,I ordered the 11th june the new Fireworks' magazine (issue 87) and I didn't receive it.
Can you see if you sent it ?
Best wishes
Yves

yvesrock : Hi,

Berny : @Gazza2005: Please accept my apologies for the delay in processing your order. You should have received a confirmation mail by now. We are really trying our best to fix the payment issue as soon as possible. Thanks for your patience! PS: It seems as if you sent the payment twice, we sent you a refund.

Gazza2005 : I have bought issue 80 and I still ha e not had confirmation of my download. Please could this be sorted out

Gazza2005 : Hello. Can someone direct me to my download please

Gazza2005 : Can someone help please

Gazza2005 : It’s Fireworks 80

Gazza2005 : Just paid for my online version / download but I keep getting failure message. All paid for so what is going on

Berny : Sorted! Thanks for your patience, enjoy the magazine! :)

HenningHallq : Hey guys! I purchased FIREWORKS #87 yesterday and paid by my paypal, but there is still no download link on my account. Can you help me with this? Thanks a lot!

Siodmak : Really thanks !!!!

Berny : @Siodmak: Pls. do not worry about the error message, we currently have to process orders manually because of a n issue with our payment system. I do not want to bore you with technical details, but the redirection from PayPal to our shop does not work as it should, that's why your purchase is not assigned automatically. We are working on it! Sorry for the troubles & thanks for your understanding. We hope you like the new issue of Fireworks! :)

Siodmak : Hello guys : - ) same problem as with previous number: just purchased Fireworks Mag. 87, and this is the message: "We are sorry, but it looks like your transaction failed". I've paid it with paypol. Thanks for your help!!

Berny : @Raphone @colorvine: You should have received your download instructions by now, if you haven't, pls. send a mail to «email» - Sorry for the troubles!

colorvine : Hello! Purchased FIREWORKS #87 yeasterday and paid by my paypal, but there is still no download link on my account.Can you help? Thanks

Raphone : Hello! Purchased FIREWORKS #87 yeasterday and paid by my paypal, but there is still no download link on my account.Can you help? Thanks

Berny : Fireworks Magazine #87 is out now!

SeaDog57 : Thanks again Berny

Berny : Hi SeaDog57: Apologies!Password can be found in the forum, link was (again) added to the "Fireworks" menu.

SeaDog57 : Berny; need a download link for #86 and the pg number for the Code

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